A/HRC/25/60/Add.2 derogable prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” Furthermore, these sorts of punishments are contrary to resolution 1996/15, paragraph 7, in which the Economic and Social Council urged States to effectively apply the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners in order to keep to a minimum the suffering of prisoners under sentence of death and to avoid any exacerbation of such suffering. The Special Rapporteur also expressed concern over provisions allowing for the death penalty in cases not qualifying as “the most serious offenses” as required under international norms; this is also specifically contrary to Article 6(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), ratified by the Islamic Republic of Iran on 24 June 1975. With regard to the penal code, it is stressed that States cannot invoke provisions of domestic law to justify violations of their human rights obligations under international law. The Special Rapporteur urges the Government to respond seriously to these allegations and relay any attempts made to rectify the inconsistencies of the Islamic Penal Code with established international law. (e) AL 05/07/2013 Case No. IRN 10/2013 State reply: 18/12/2013 Allegations regarding the arrest and detention, which occurred close to the recent presidential election, of Messrs. Khosro Kordpour and Massoud Kordpour, journalists; Ms. Jamileh Karimi and Messrs. Ashkan Zahabian, and Afshin Keshtkari, political and student activists; and Mr. Mahmoud Beheshti Langroudi, trade unionist. 64. The Special Rapporteur appreciates the reply of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, dated 18 December 2013, to this communication in reference to the arrests and detention of six individuals, namely Messrs. Khosro Kordpour and Massoud Kordpour, journalists; Ms. Jamileh Karimi and Messrs. Ashkan Zahabian, and Afshin Keshtkari, political and student activists; and Mr. Mahmoud Beheshti Langroudi, trade unionist. It was reported that Mr. Khosro Kordpour, editor-in-chief of the Mukrian New Agency, was arrested by intelligence officers in March 2013 under an arrest warrant issued by Branch 2 of the Revolutionary Court of Mahabad. Mr. Khosor Kordpour’s brother, Mr. Massoud Kordpour, who is a freelance journalist, allegedly went to the Boukan Intelligence Office to inquire about his brother’s imprisonment, where he was reportedly subsequently arrested, held in solitary confinement, and transferred to Mahabad Prison in the province of Azerbaijan. A few weeks after their arrests in March 2013, both journalists were allegedly transferred to a Revolutionary Guards detention center in Orumiyeh and held in solitary confinement. Authorities have reportedly not disclosed the charges against them, their family was allegedly prohibited from visiting them until 2 May 2013, and neither of the journalists was initially allowed access to a lawyer. Allegedly, the journalists’ mental health was poor. Ms. Jamileh Karimi, a political activist and member of Central Council of the Reformists Coalition in Fars Province, worked for the Fars provincial Governor as an advisor on women’s and youth affairs during Mohammad Khatami’s presidency and was a signatory to a letter urging Mr. Khatami to run for the presidency in 2013. It was reported that she was arrested by security forces on 10 April 2013 and held in solitary confinement at the Ministry of Intelligence detention center in Shiraz. Her charges had reportedly not been disclosed. Mr. Ashkan Zahabian, a student activist, was reportedly arrested by Intelligence Ministry officials on 27 May 2013. In 2011, he had reportedly been sentenced to an eight-month prison term for “acting against national security” and “spreading propaganda against the system”. He allegedly had not received a written summons requiring him to commence serving his sentence but was taken to Babol Prison in Mazandaran province to serve the 2011 sentence. Mr. Afshin Keshtkari, a student activist and founder of the University of Technology Islamic Student Association in Shiraz, was reportedly summoned to appear before the Revolutionary Court of Shiraz on 18 May 2013 and then committed to Adel Abad Prison to begin serving six months of a pending threeyear prison sentence. Mr. Keshtkari had reportedly been arrested following a student protest at the University of Technology in Shiraz on 7 December 2010 and subsequently reportedly 45